Rushing Roulette
Rushing Roulette is a 1965 Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. It was directed by Robert McKimson, and was the second Road Runner cartoon directed by someone other than Chuck Jones, who had exclusively used the characters since their debut in 1949 (the first was The Wild Chase, directed by Friz Freleng). McKimson directed one other Road Runner cartoon the following year (Sugar and Spies). Unlike the ten Rudy Larriva-directed Road Runner shorts after Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner (which featured a series of pre-recorded music cues that didn't follow the action on-screen as closely), Rushing Roulette featured an entirely original score by Bill Lava. The title of this cartoon is a play on Russian roulette. Summary As with all Road Runner cartoons, Wile E. Coyote tries various methods to nab the speedy bird: *Wile grabs Road Runner with a lasso but is merely dragged into a telephone pole. *Wile sets up a fake photo booth which has a cannon behind it. When the Road Runner actually gets a real picture taken at the booth, Wile, puzzled, looks into the barrel of his own cannon and is shot (in the smoke, a picture of the charred coyote floats past). *Wile puts on spring boots but is startled by the Road Runner's trademark "Beep beep!" and bounces off a nearby cliff. However, he bounces back up due to his boots and hits a rock. Both Wile and the rock fall to the ground, where the rock flattens Wile. *Wile puts Ajax glue on the pavement to stick Road Runner. His plan backfires when he accidentally steps on the sticky pavement and Road Runner startles Wile so much with his "Beep beep!" that he actually lifts the pavement off the ground (with Wile still attached) and lands face down. *Wile tries to catch Road Runner with a handcar. This backfires when Road Runner gets his own handcar, rides it up to the top of a ledge, and chases Wile off a cliff with another "beep beep!". *Wile uses a sunbeam to roast Road Runner, but the bird uses a mirror to bounce the sunbeam back and burn the platform on which Wile is standing. *A repeat of the classic "exploding piano" gag, used in Ballot Box Bunny and Show Biz Bugs, and later Slappy Goes Walnuts. *Wile pushes a boulder off a narrow ledge to hit Road Runner on the pavement below, but the boulder misses and keeps eating away at his platform until he's at pavement level. He manages to duck into a manhole right before getting hit by an oncoming truck, but the boulder lands on top of the manhole, preventing his escape. *Finally, Wile uses a personal helicopter but accidentally runs into the top of a tunnel. He's also flattened by an anvil he was prepared to drop on Road Runner, and is also hit by a bus, driven by Road Runner. Gallery Rushing Roulette SS 1.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 2.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 3.jpg|Ouch. That hurt. Rushing Roulette SS 4.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 5.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 6.jpg|Best wishes, Roadrunner. Rushing Roulette SS 7.jpg|Not your best photo. Rushing Roulette SS 8.jpg|BOINGGG!!! Rushing Roulette SS 9.jpg|SURPRISE!!! Rushing Roulette SS 10.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 11.jpg|Two can play. Rushing Roulette SS 12.jpg|That was just asking for it. Rushing Roulette SS 13.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 14.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 15.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 16.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 17.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 18.jpg|Playing it right. Rushing Roulette SS 19.jpg|And paying for it. Rushing Roulette SS 20.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 21.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 22.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 23.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 24.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 25.jpg Rushing Roulette SS 26.jpg Video External links *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059667/ Rushing Roulette] at the Internet Movie Database Category:Road Runner Cartoons Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts Category:1965 Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson Category:Shorts Category:DePatie-Freleng Looney Tunes Category:Wile E. Coyote Cartoons